Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	body_n	death_n	life_n	3,302	5	4.8128	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A14199	The voyce of the cryer Containing 1. A denunciation of Gods iudgements. 2. An inuitation to repentance to preuent the same. Deliuered in two sermons by Alexander Vdny B. in Diuinity, and chaplaine to his Maiestie in ordinary, and minister of the Gospell at Hauking in Kent.	Udny, Alexander, minister of Hauking in Kent.	1628 (1628)	STC 24513A; ESTC S114880	80,029	113

for our sinnes The Reason hereof is this Reason because there is no comming to Christ vnlesse we finde our selues oppressed then we haue most accesse vnto Christ when we haue most sorrow and thus the Lord doth temper our estate that when wee are lost in our selues he findeth vs for his strength is perfect in our weaknesse O happy sorrow which draweth vs to our God as a guide it leadeth vs as a broome it sweepeth the passage it craueth pardon and openeth the gate of Christs mercy and lendeth vs wings to flye thereunto as in the winter most raine falleth so in distresse there is greatest comfort The Vses hereof are twofold For Instruction then we are in greatest danger Vse 1 when we are least sorrowfull worldly medicines playing dancing drinking are not fit for those heauenly sores Drinke is good but not for them which haue caten poyson so mirth is good but not alwayes It must be at some times banished with fasting weeping and mourning neither must our mourning take away hope of pardon which is the estate of the wicked for if we doe truely mourne Gods anger shall be turned away he will pardon vs our faith though weake maketh vs victorious as there may be life in the body though not perceiued so there may be in the soule though not discerned as it was 〈◊〉 Dauid who said This is my death yet recouered both his health and ioy in the holy Ghost For Exhortation let vs by true sorrow for sinne testifie our true Repentance by this purgation we shall recouer health though the paines of true Repentance exceede the paines of the body and for this cause good men are said to suffer hell in this life yet assure thy selfe of heauen in the life to come mourne and weepe though God for a time delay yet he heareth thee and will grant thy requests Our Sauiour saith Father I thanke thee that thou hast heard me and yet at this time Lazarus was not raised Marke this well that we must also be ready to beleeue that God will grant that which wee aske as we are ready to demand and pray for the same To draw to an end As the Lord by his Prophet required of the Iewes to turne vnto him with all their heart with fasting weeping and mourning that they might preuent those iudgements which were threatued against them so also at this time he requireth this dutie at our hands he requireth our turning euen an holy reformation of our corruption whereby we must be sorry for euill doing and more carefull to admonish others by our fals and to preuent sinne in our selues and more wise to auoid the occasions thereof If wee finde more cheerefulnesse in troubles more patience in waiting vpon God more care to make our enemies Gods friends taking to heart sinnes of the time more sorrow for sinne then crosses if we feele an increase and growth of grace with a longing desire for our perfection in glory these are certaine and vndoubted tokens of our true conuersion vnto the Lord which is the onely meanes to remoue those iudgements which lye vpon vs and preuent those which hang oueour heads For this cause let vs try and examine our selues what wee finde within vs which may condemne vs. To this effect let the heart which is the seate of the affections speake to euery one or vs or more plainely let conscience now speake boldly to all sorts of people for the heart is still put for the conscience amongst the Hebrewes they hauing no particular word for it so that a pure heart and a pure conscience are equiualent tearmes as diuers places of scripture confirme telling them both whererein they doe amisse and likewise what God doth require of them And thou oh Conscience What conscience ought to tell that thou maiest execute thy office aright speake in the language of Canaan spare no mans person tell euery one of their sinnes Goe vnto all Christian Princes will them to tread in the scope of Iosiah by weakning the power of Autichrist Princes pulling downe the high places spreading Leuites throughout their land to preach the word of God that godlines may bee maintained and sinne punished Goe vnto the Nobilitie and tell them The Nobles that there is no true Nobility without a good conscience Goe to the Counsellers and Iudges and say vnto them Iudges that Magistrates must be men of courage fearing God louers of the truth and haters of couetousnesse that they ought to abandon Balaams wages and shake all bribes out of their laps Get thee to the tribe of Leui Say The Ministry lay hand suddenly on no man bid them that they deliuer the whole counsell of God though some with Demas embrace the world and others with Iudas betray their master let them cry in the eares of all men and shoot the arrowes of Gods vengeance against the brasen faces of impenitent sinners Goe to the Gentrie tell them that Gentility consisteth not in cutting of a card casting of a die marching of a cocke The Gentry or in hollowing after a dismall cry of hounds or in buying and selling spirituall liuings but in liuing vpon their own in the feare of God Goe and tell Tradesmen Tradsemen that they must make an equall measure and iust ballance and that they keepe a good conscience abroad and at home Let labourers take this to heart for if the Lord did not often crosse men in their tillage they would euen worship their Ploughes Goe Papists and tell the Romanists that there is no true and vpright conscience kept by blowing vp Parliament houses murdering of Kings or causing their subiects to rebel against them Tell the Iewes that the Messiah is come Iewes in whom if they doe not not beleeue they cannot be saued Goe All wicked persons terrifie all wicked persons tell the Swearer that the flying Booke full of curses shall light vpon him the Sabbaoth-breaker that there is no rest for him in heauen Whoremongers that the Lord shall iudge them Murtherers that murther cryeth to the heauens for vengeance Lyars Drunkards Gluttons Epicures Deceiuers c. meet with them all for thou canst haue accesse vnto them at all times strike wound and terrifie the whole crew of them hunt them from lurking places that they may be turned from their euill wayes ere they be turned to eternall torments Oh let vs in time returne vnto the Lord before destruction come vpon vs let vs not in this time of peace abuse Gods mercies resisting the law of righteousnesse This was the losse of those famous Churches in Graecia and Asia this may be our lot it may come to passe and we may iustly feare it that others may say of this Land as we now of theirs there were Churches but are not now there was the Gospell preached but is not now The Lord giue vs eyes that we may be wise in time and repent in that we haue fallen from our former loue Be not vnthankefull for your Peace lest it be turned into Warre be not proud of your benefits lest you be stripped of your ornaments be not secure in your glory lest you bee put to sorrow Let vs all pray for true conuersion vnto the Lord and that our Peace may continue Let God be our Gouernour let the Saints dwell amongst vs let the Churches be our Courts let the Preachers be our Councell let Religion be our exercise let Prayers be our weapons and Faith our shield and holinesse our armour Let vs root sinne out of our hearts let vs wash all the spots of euill from our liues let vs cast downe all the Castles of the Diuell in our Land let vs driue away whatsoeuer worketh vnrighteousnesse Those are the teares which the Lord desireth euen such as proceede from the conuersion of the heart Let Prince and people Clergie and Laitie mourne with speede for the Lord is gone out against vs weepe old men and women weepe young men and maides let vs all mourne for the day of the Lord is at hand and is come already Therefore now turne with fasting weeping and mourning let it be in greater measure at this time then hath beene formerly because Gods anger is in wonderfull measure kindled against vs. Let sorrow be our songs and if we doe truely mourne then I say with Chrysostome as after a great raine the ayre becommeth cleare and pure Sicut post vehementesimbres mundus aer ac purus efficitur ita post lachrymarū pluvias serenitas mentis sequitur atque tranquillitas Chrys super Matt. Psal 34.19 so after a shower of teares followeth the puritie and tranquilitie of the minde So shall the Prophecie of Dauid be fulfilled in vs that although the troubles of the righteous are many yet the Lord deliuereth them out of them all Such as weepe sowe precious seede and shall doubtlesse reioyce in bringing home their Sheaues if wee sowe in teares wee shall reape in ioy for Christ shall wipe all teares from our eyes and shall bring vs at length to a Citie not made with hands but eternall in the heauens where there shall be no night neither candle Reuel 22.5 neither light of the Sunne for the Lord God shall be our light and we with the Saints shall reigne for euer and euer FINIS

commonly to draw them vnto repentance and doth deferre to deliuer his owne children from them but that they may be truely humbled and that they may call vpon him acknowledging by whom they are deliuered yea that hereby greater euils may be preuented after which manner the Lord for a long time did exercise his seruant Dauid whom his faithful God did not suffer to be tempted aboue that which he was able to beare but at length deliuered him from them all all things working together for the best to such as loue God The Vses of this Doctrine are both for Reprehension and Exhortation Reprehension to wicked men which through the lusts of their owne flesh promise vnto themselues liberty saying where is the promise of his comming 2 Pet. 3.3 euen as if God were mutable his word false and his delay in executing iudgements were a certaine argument either he could not or would not execute them all Notwithstanding of their contempt of this kinde there were some in the Primitiue Church such as Basilides T●monius Simon Magus and after them the Hereticks called Gnostici as the Ecclesiasticall Histories make mention their sinne died not with them the diuell in this last and worst age hath consented the same to spring vp againe and that in foure sorts of people Atheists Anabaptists Papists and formall carnall Protestants Atheists which liue neither fearing the torments of hell nor desiring the ioyes of heauen beleeuing neither who say with Pharaoh Who is the Lord that we should serue him Anabaptists which condemne all obedience vnto Magistrates teaching that ciuill iurisdiction is vnlawfull Papists which giue liberty to prophanesse vniustice couetousnesse c Prophanenesse in setting vp a new Priesthood offering as they say a Sacrifice for the quicke and the dead whereby they abolish the Mediation and Sacrifice of Christ Iniustice in deposing Kings and making Subiects to rebell against them Couetousnesse for selling Pardons for sinnes for 1000. yeares to come yea making men to despaire of their owne saluation teaching that we cannot be assured of the king dome of heauen without a speciall reuelation Formall Protestants which turne the Counsels of Gods Election into wantonnesse reasoning thus If I be elected vnto saluation I shall be saued how badly so euer I liue or if I be appointed vnto damnation so it shall come to passe because Gods counsell is vnchangeable By those horrible Blasphemies Gods iudgements are abused the grace of God by them turned into the liberty of sinne Exhortation vnto vs all timely to repent vs of our sinnes Gods iudgements may seaze vpon vs whilst we are most secure when we are least aware we are as grasse which withereth and as the flower which fadeth the breath of the Lord may soone blow vpon vs for our destruction In Paradise men might haue liued or died Mortes potet deferre non a●ferre veniet sinelis veniet quands neseis August now we liue and must dye we are changed from grace and glory into sorrow and miserie before sinne nothing could change vs now euery thing doth change vs as one saith of Death so it may be said of other Iudgements They may be deferred not remoued they shall come when thou wouldst not they shall come when thou knowst not when winter commeth we waxe old when age commeth then we become withered when sicknesse commeth then we become weake death will come and then we shall dye the cloathes we weare vpon our backes the Sunne setting ouer our heads the graues vnder our feet yea the meat which goeth into our bellies telleth vs we must decay one creature doth summon another vnto iudgement the fish in the sea the fowles in the ayre the beasts on the ground the one day liuing in their elements the other day dressed for our meat giue vs warning our father 's summond vs and we our children To the graue we carry others others shall carry vs to this bed wherein all must sleepe Gen. 47.9 Psal 22.6 Hence Iacob called his life a pilgrimage Paul his life a race Dauid himselfe a worme and not a man A Pilgrimage hath an end a race hath a stop a worme is trodden downe vnder-feet and all this is to teach that we must dye Wherefore I say seeing both the particular iudgement of death and other threatned are certaine haue we not all cause speedily to repent vs of our sins that both others may be preuened and when we dye our death may be the beginning of endlesse ioy of life euerlasting For the second when the time of grace and saluation is offered not imbraced then iudgements shall come the people of the Iewes had a time of repentance the ministery of the Law and the Prophets now also haue they a time of iudgement vnlesse they did repent for the contempt of so great a mercy offered the destruction of the old World by the inundation of waters for their contempt of the ministry of Noah the herrible confusion of Corah Dathan and Abiram in the dayes of Moses the wickednesse of Saul in the dayes of Samuel the contempt of the Israelites after their deliuerance from Babylon and Assyria being like the Blackamoore which doth not chang his colour or the Leopard his spots and the iudgements which seazed vpon them clearely confirme this point The Iewes had many both painfull and faithfull Teachers yet they would not imbrace the mercy offered Christ the light of the world him they did crucifie Paul famous throughout all the world who had preached euen from Illyricum vnto Spaine for him they laid wait that they might kill him many others they had but all in vaine they would not heare What followed vpon this most fearefull iudgements within two and forty yeares after the ascension of Christ Tripart hist Ierusalem was destroyed by Titus the son of Vespasian and the whole land of Palestina at this day all groaneth vnder the Turkish thraldome The Primitiue Church for the contempt did also vndergoe most fearefull iudgements The Romans for their contempt were ouerthrowne by the Goths and Vandales and forced to forsake the ancient Septicolles and make their residence in Campus Martius where Rome standeth at this day The Citizens of Ephesus Colosse and Corinth for their contempt were by fire from heauen by the earth quake and pestilence destroyed to come nigher home England had her dayes of peace which being abused followed the scourge of Queene Mary whereby many thousands lost their liues yea euen of late God hath in diuers things visited vs by Famine Pestilence and euen for our contempt of mercies offered which yet if we doe refuse and reiect greater iudgements shall cease vpon vs. The Reasons hereof are these 1. In respect of the Iustice of God which must needs take place where Mercy is reiected 2. The Glory of God which is euen purchased by inflicting iudgements vpon contemners The Vse of this point is for exhortation vnto vs all that seeing we haue this day of mercy